YOUTH COUNCILS

Since the Arab Spring, the engagement of women and youth in the economic and in public life has been necessary for city economic growth and community development. In order to include Saudi youth in regional planning processes, Youth Councils were established in several regions across Saudi Arabia; however, it seems they have been implemented unevenly, varying from region to region45. This is also due to the fact that there is no clear mandate stating the nature and aim of their work. Even if some of the Youth Councils are active on social media by announcing their activities, they tend not to engage with other users.

The CPI Youth Survey and the KSCLG Social Media Study findings reflect the uneven implementation and the inconsistent impacts of the Youth

Councils in the public sphere. The social media survey results show that youth council is a very weak topic within the social media discussions, with less than 0.01% of tweets. In fact, almost 90% of youth and women that participated in the survey are not aware of the existence of a youth council in their city, but more than 50% of the respondents declare to be interested in participating in a youth council and engage in public decision-making.

The majority of women and youth that participated in the survey think that their opinions are not heard in the local decision-making, but they are willing to participate in the decisionmaking processes of their cities by participating in a youth council (29%) or through voting (26%) in order to and make their voice heard.